On December 4, the Mattapoisett Board of Selectmen met with Principal Assessor Kathleen Costello for the 2019 tax reclassification hearing. The “big news”, Costello said, was “the robust new growth – a figure thanks in part to solar PILOT programs.” Costello pegged the real and personal property assessed value in Mattapoisett at $1,722,696,813, an […] Read more »
It was soon apparent on December 3 that the members of the Mattapoisett Planning Board were not in agreement on what had previously been decided as an acceptable surety for the controversial Snow Field Estates subdivision when engineer David Davignon, flanked by Attorney John Mathieu, stepped forward. The agenda for the evening’s meeting listed the […] Read more »
The next free textile and soft recyclables program in Rochester has been postponed until January 18 due to some unspecified extenuating circumstances, Rochester Town Administrator Suzanne Szyndlar told the Board of Selectmen on December 3. The company, Simple Recycling, owned by WasteZero, will be mailing residents information about the service and the pink plastic bags […] Read more »
Tabor Academy filed a civil action with the Plymouth Superior Court against the Marion Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) on November 28, while also naming each of the eight ZBA members and associate members as defendants. The zoning appeal pertains to the ZBA’s October 18 decision to deny the Special Permit Tabor Academy requested for […] Read more »
David Pierce, the chair of the Marion Energy Management Committee, remarked that he had one goal for the committee at the start of his tenure – for the town to become a Green Community. Monday night the committee moved Marion a little closer to that goal. Town Planner Gil Hilario, who could not attend the […] Read more »
“I’m not interested” isn’t the direction that those present for the proposed Village at Plumb Corner age-restricted housing development were hoping for at the November 20 Rochester Conservation Commission meeting, but that’s what Chairman Mike Conway told one attorney and engineer as the continued public hearing was again opened. Conway wasn’t interested in anything that […] Read more »
After nearly an hour of deliberation, one blunt resident urged his fellow voters to “get out of the weeds,” so to speak, poking pun that it was high time to take a vote on the Medical Marijuana Treatment Center bylaw that sparked debate during the Mattapoisett Special Town Meeting Monday night, November 26. Planning Board […] Read more »
During a quick pre-Special Town Meeting scheduled meeting, the Rochester Board of Selectmen on November 19 voted to refrain from exercising its right of first refusal for 440 Snipatuit Road. The Chapter 61A agricultural use property consists of a house and two acres of cranberry bogs. As a Chapter 61A property, the right of first […] Read more »
School Superintendent Doug White has requested $143,817 in capital spending to provide Rochester Memorial School with security camera upgrades, a field irrigation system, and also a math curriculum materials renewal, items that White told the Rochester School Committee on November 15 are outside the scope of the regular school budget. “We’re looking at trying to […] Read more »
At long last, the Marion Conservation Commission, with Chairman Jeff Doubrava on speakerphone, issued an Order of Conditions for the controversial application filed by Mark Ross. Ross, represented by Nick Dufresne of Farland Corp., was requesting to raze an existing dwelling and rebuild at 195C Converse Road. Doubrava, with other commission members, had questioned the […] Read more »